-Caveat Lector- ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date sent: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 09:39:30 -0500 National Center For Policy Analysis DAILY POLICY DIGEST Tuesday, October 12, 1999 PointCast can automatically load NCPA's Policy Digest summaries on your desktop for easy reading. For information go to http://www.ncpa.org/pointcast.html IN TODAY'S DIGEST o CALIFORNIA WILL SET NURSE-TO-PATIENT RATIOS AT HOSPITALS under a new law signed by Gov. Gray Davis....NEW YORK TIMES o THERE ARE 69 PERCENT FEWER SCHOOLS IN THE U.S. TODAY than in 1940, but student bodies are much larger....INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY o A RUSSIAN COURT ORDERS A PRIVATIZED FACTORY RETURNED TO THE STATE, alarming foreign investors....WALL STREET JOURNAL o THE PENTAGON WILL SPEND $340 BILLION ON MANNED FIGHTER AIRCRAFT over the next 30 years, say analysts, despite the promise of automated drones....WALL STREET JOURNAL o TELEVISED GUN VIOLENCE ROSE 334 PERCENT from 1992 to 1995, notes William J. Bennett in his latest "Index of Leading Cultural Indicators"....WASHINGTON TIMES o AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE over the next 25 years, say experts....BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL IN TODAY'S NEWS CALIFORNIA MANDATES NURSE-TO-PATIENT RATIOS California politicians are now making the decisions regarding nursing personnel, clearly signaling that hospitals are incapable of the job. At the behest of the state's nurses' union, Gov. Gray Davis (D) has signed a bill that makes California the only state to require hospitals to meet fixed nurse-to-patient ratios. o The act requires the State Department of Health Services to set ratios for general, psychiatric and special hospitals. o The measure also bars hospitals from assigning unlicensed workers to perform certain medical procedures -- including administering drugs and assessing a patient's condition. o It prohibits hospitals from shifting nurses trained in one unit to duty in another without adequate preparation. o Under a political compromise, the measure is not supposed to take effect until 2002. The California health-care industry opposed the measure on the grounds that it would impose overly specific requirements on hospitals and increase costs. The president of the California Nurses Association enthused that the signing of the bill represented "one of the most significant days in the history of nursing." Davis's Republican predecessor, former Gov. Pete Wilson, vetoed a similar measure two years ago. Source: Todd S. Purdum, "California to Set Level of Staffing for Nursing Care," New York Times, October 12, 1999. For NYT text (requires free registration) http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/101299calif-nurse.html For more on Health issues http://www.ncpa.org/pi/health/hedex1.html DO SMALL SCHOOLS IMPROVE EDUCATION? >From the era of Sputnik until quite recently, the trend in education has been to consolidate public schools and increase the size of the student body. Advocates of larger schools believed that greater size would reduce per-student costs while providing pupils with the advantages of apparatus and facilities that would simply be too expensive for smaller schools. But in the 1990s, groups advocating smaller schools have sprung up -- contending that students get lost and feel forgotten if the educational environment grows too large. In schools with 2,000 pupils or more, teachers often see 150 or more children a day and lack the time to form bonds with them. o While there is no universal agreement on what size is optimal for a school, many small-school advocates contend that schools with 400 to 800 students are more workable. o In 1940, there were 200,000 elementary and secondary schools -- compared to 62,000 now. o Average enrollment back then was 127 students -- versus 653 per school today. o Small-school advocates can point to studies which show that holding down enrollment contributes to higher graduation rates, lower dropout rates, higher achievement and more parental involvement. Small schools are springing up in New York City and Chicago, as well as elsewhere. Both cities are experimenting by dividing large schools into a handful of smaller schools -- while using the previous facilities. Source: Tyce Palmaffy, "The Next Big School Reform: Size," Investor's Business Daily, October 12, 1999. For text http://www.investors.com/stories/IF/1999/Oct/12/25.html For more on Other Education Issues http://www.ncpa.org/pi/edu/edu7c.html A BIZARRE TALE OF REVERSE PRIVATIZATION IN RUSSIA Russia is supposed to be embracing market economics. But you wouldn't know it from a recent court decision there. A St. Petersburg arbitration court ruled yesterday that foreign investors must return to state control a porcelain manufacturing firm founded by Peter the Great's daughter in 1744. The court claimed that documents which paved the way for the company's privatization in 1993 were illegal -- a decision that appears to be a first in Russia since it began privatizations in 1992. o The foreign owners -- which include the U.S.-Russia Investment Fund, or Tusrif, and the investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts -- say they will appeal the ruling. o Some of those involved warn that the ruling could set a precedent for reversing Russian privatization sales, but others claim the historic Lomonosov factory is a special case. o Russia's Ministry of State Property, which filed the suit, joined with workers to try to oust the foreign owners by seeking weaknesses in the privatization documents. o The foreign investors accuse Lomonosov managers of corrupt, inefficient management -- and say they have coerced some workers into opposing foreign investment. Russia's Federal Securities Commission had asked in August that the property ministry withdraw its suit -- warning that a seizure would be "extremely dangerous for Russian capital markets." A commission official went on to warn that the case "could create a vast, international scandal." Source: Jeanne Whalen, "Russian Court Overturns Factory Privatization," Wall Street Journal, October 12, 1999. For text (requires WSJ Interactive subscription) http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB939687879194244568.htm For more on Russia http://www.ncpa.org/pi/internat/intdex9.html UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES COST MUCH LESS THAN FIGHTER JETS Some analysts argue that the military prefers buying big-ticket weapons such as tanks, aircraft carriers and fighter jets -- hardware that would have been useful if the Cold War had ever heated up -- rather than investing in innovative equipment more suitable to the evolving needs of modern warfare. For example, there is the promise of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which have been around for decades -- but which the Pentagon has failed to fully exploit. o Military experts say that UAVs can fly lower, longer and into more hazardous missile-riddled airspace than any pilot would dare. o During the war in Kosovo, the U.S. used only two dozen or so Predator aircraft and similar UAVs despite their potential for keeping pilots out of harm's way. o Over the past 20 years, the Pentagon's spending on such unmanned drones has totaled $2 billion -- roughly equal to what it pays for a single B-2 bomber and one-tenth of what it soon plans to spend every year on manned combat aircraft. o While some military experts believe the next century could see the end of manned combat aircraft altogether, Air Force officials reportedly continue to push for ever more- advanced manned fighters. The Pentagon now plans to spend $340 billion on 3,700 manned fighters over 30 years. Source: Thomas E. Ricks and Anne Marie Squeo, "Why the Pentagon Is Often Slow to Pursue Promising Weapons," Wall Street Journal, October 12, 1999. For text (requires WSJ Interactive subscription) http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB939680462437134816.htm For more on Defense Budget http://www.ncpa.org/pi/congress/cong9.html BENNETT'S "INDEX OF LEADING CULTURAL INDICATORS" FINDS MIXED TRENDS Empower America's William J. Bennett has issued his latest "Index of Leading Cultural Indicators," and he finds reasons to cheer as well as frown. First the good news, as he sees it: o The total crime rate fell 15.4 percent between 1990 and 1997 -- and the murder rate is the lowest it has been since 1967. o Average Scholastic Assessment Test scores rose by 16 points between 1990 and 1998. o Charitable giving increased by 38 percent between 1990 and 1998. o Welfare rolls were down by 46.5 percent from 1994 to 1998. Now for some areas of social regression, in Bennett's view: o In 1996, American 12th-graders ranked 19th out of 21 nations in mathematics achievement. o Television violence involving gunplay rose 334 percent from 1992 to 1995. o The proportion of 12th-graders using any illegal drug rose from 47.9 percent in 1990 to 54.1 percent in 1998. Bennett issued his first index of cultural indicators in 1994. Source: Cheryl Wetzstein, "Index of 'Cultural Indicators' Sees Trends 'Decidedly Mixed,'" Washington Times, October 12, 1999. For WT text http://www.washtimes.com/nation/nation1.html For more on Social Trends http://www.ncpa.org/pd/social/social.html IN OTHER NEWS FOOD ENOUGH FOR PROJECTED POPULATION Food production should be able to keep up with the growth in world population that is projected to occur over the next 25 years, says population expert Tim Dyson. o An important reason for this is that the worldwide growth in cereal yield shows no sign of slowing down, according to data from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization on cereal yields since 1951 (see figure http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content-nw/full/319/7215/988/Fu3?ck=nck ). o For example, in the United States the average cereal yield rose from 4.58 metric tons per hectare in 1989-91 to 5.04 metric tons per hectare in 1995-7. o Some alarmists have pointed to a slowing of the percentage increase in agricultural productivity in recent years; but economists say because it is a linear trend it is inevitable that the annual percentage yield increase is declining. o However, measured in absolute terms, which are what really matter, there is no real sign of any slackening in the growth of agricultural productivity. Since 1945 the United States and Canada (with Australia) have been the world's most important exporters of cereals. The average growth of yields in these countries has been and remains strong. Source: Tim Dyson (London School of Economics), "Prospects for feeding the world," British Medical Journal, October 9, 1999. For text http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/319/7215/988?ck=nck#Top For related BMJ articles on population http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7215/931 For more on Population and Resources http://www.ncpa.org/pi/internat/intdex11.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NATIONAL CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS DALLAS, TEXAS "Making Ideas Change the World" Internet Address: http://www.ncpa.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A<>E<>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Integrity has no need of rules. -Albert Camus (1913-1960) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your common sense." --Buddha + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." 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